Cleaning the car and Functional Fitness

Posted on 22nd August 201920th August 2019

Cleaning the car is something you either love or loathe. There doesn’t seem to be any middle ground. Are you happy to let years of dust and dirt accumulate on your vehicle? Or do you clean the car every week without fail? We had a discussion about this at FLexercise HQ. It seems that most of us are regular car cleaners but most of us don’t manage it every week.

Cleaning the car uses lots of different muscle groups. It involves arm and shoulder control, trunk and waist and thigh work. There may also be a spot of balance, depending on how big your car is. In fact it really is a total body work out so maybe we should all clean the car more often!!

In this episode of Functional Fitness Ali shows you some really good exercises to prepare for the task of cleaning your car. You will notice that Tilly the cat got in on the action. She’s never been one to hide when there’s a camera around)

We tried to find a link to safety tips while cleaning your car, but it proved a fruitless task. So we decided to create our own list of safety tips.

Make sure you wear appropriate footwear – wellie boots perhaps?

Wear gloves to protect your hands from the detergent

Consider wearing eye protection in case you get detergent in your eyes

Check the detergent/products carefully – are you allergic to anything in the recipe?

Move the hose away from your work area between rinses to prevent you tripping on it

Work at an easy pace – cleaning the car can become tiring especially in hot weather

Keep cleaning products away from children and pets

Car wash risks

Of course, if you think cleaning your own car is too much of a faff, you can always go to one of the many valet services available. However, you will have seen items in the press surrounding staff at auto valets and modern slavery. There is a safe carwash app you can download to report any concerns you may have. It is important that vulnerable people aren’t exploited and you can help stamp it out. https://www.theclewerinitiative.org/safe-car-wash-app